Seat covering



Patented May 20, y:1947

SEAT COVERING .lohn J. Petroske, Methuen, Mass., assignor to Patchogue-Plymouth Mills Corporation, New lYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 8, 1945, Serial No. 598,289

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in seat coverings and seat covering materials, and more particularly to the material used to make automobile slip covers.

Summer slip covers for automobiles must be relatively inexpensive, and for that reason are quite generally made from twisted paper fibre strands which may be dyed in different colors, and then woven into a textile fabric. The coloring does not appreciably enhance the appearance of the paper libres, but on the contrary the coloring is relatively unattractive, being dull and lifeless in eye-appearance. The coloring also has a tendency to fade. These disadvantages tend to impair the salability of slip covers made from such seat covering materials, and this in turn adversely affects the demand for the seat covering material.

Applying a clear lacquer to the woven fabric base imparts a glossy nish to the surface of the fibre strands thus bringing out the colors and protecting them from fading. Lacquer is ordinarily made by dissolving lac, shellac, or the like, in a suitable solvent such as alcohol. The lacquer coating also forms a moisture-repellent washable surface for the fabric base, from which grease and oil can be readily removed.

A fabric woven from twisted paper fibre deteriorates quickly when damp, and while the lacquer coating protects that side of the fabric base to which it is applied, lacquer is relatively expensive, so that the cost of applying a coating of lacquer to both sides of a fabric causes a substantial increase in manufacturing cost over a similar fabric having a coating of lacquer applied .to the right side only. This increase in the cost of applying' a coating of lacquer to both sides of the fabric is necessarily reflected in a substantial advance in the price of the slip covers made from such a fabric, and as the advantages of such an article are not obvious, they are not appreciated by the ultimate user, hence slip covers made from a fabric lacquered upon both sides are not salable in competition with the relatively cheaper slip covers manufactured from a fabric lacquered upon the right side only.

I have attempted to produce a low cost slip cover material which is moisture-repellent on both sides by submerging the fabric in a liquid waterproofing agent to impregnate the body of the fabric. This waterproofing agent is relatively cheap, and the method of applying the waterproofing agent is relatively inexpensive, hence the use of said agent does not appreciably increase the cost of manufacture. When however, the fabric is thus impregnated the unattractive lifeless appearance of the colored twisted paper nbre strands is accentuated, and it is not possible to apply a lacquer coating to bring out the colors, because the waterproofing agent has 'a deleterious action on lacquer. If lacquer is applied to the surface of the fabric after it has been impregnated with the waterproong agent, the lacquer coating does not dry but remains soft and tacky, and the lacquer does not adhere as Well as when it is applied directly to the fabric in the untreated state. subjecting the fabric to the waterproofing process after the lacquer has been first applied to one side of the fabric and allowed to dry is equally unsatisfactory, because the waterproofing agent softens the lacquer coating and otherwise impairs the finish.

The object of this invention is a twisted paper bre seat covering material or fabric which possesses all of the desirable properties and advantages, but eliminates all of the disadvantages, of either a waterproofed, or a lacquered fabric, and which is both commercially and economically practical.

Another object is a fabric which is entirely practical for use as a seat covering material, which has a moisture-repellent underside, and a washable, glossy, highly colored and fade-proof right side, and which can be marketed without any substantial increase in price over a seat covering material having the right side thereof coated with lacquer and the underside untreated.

Another object is an inexpensive textile fabric made of flexible paper fibre useful in the manufacture of slip covers, having one side treated with a relatively inexpensive waterproofing agent in such a manner that no deleterious effect is produced upon a glossy fade-proof moisture-repellent eXible coating applied to the opposite side of the fabric, and without impairing the ilexibility thereof.

Other objects Will appear from the detailed description which follows:

In the drawings comprising but a single sheet of three figures, numbered Figs. 1 to 3 both inclusive, one embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

Fig- 1 is a view of the top surface or right side of the textile material showing a fragmentary View of the lacquer coating;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional enlarged view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 3 is a view of the reverse side or underside of the textile material or fabric, showing a frag- What is claimed is:

1. A slip cover material comprising a flexible base of interwoven paper bre strands, the paper bre normally having an aflinity for lacquer, said base being separated into two zones, each Zone including its adjoining surface, the surface of one of said zones being impregnated with a relatively inexpensive waterproong agent containing a water soluble aluminum salt and wax, said agent forming a dry, transparent, moisture-repellent flexible coating, which does not visibly enhance the color of the paper libre, upon the impregnated surface, the fibre of the other zone and of its purposely untreated surface retaining an affinity for lacquer, and a coating of lacquer comprising shellac applied to the surface of said untreated zone to form a transparent, glossy, washable, dry, flexible coating which enhances the lustre of the fibres and prevents fading thereof.

2. A slip cover material comprising variously colored strands of paper fibre interwoven to form a flexible fabric base, the paper fibre normally having an affinity for lacquer, said base being separated into two zones, each zone including its adjoining surface, the surface of one of said zones being impregnated with a relatively inexpensive waterproofing agent containing a water soluble aluminum salt and wax, said agent forming a dry, transparent, moisture-repellent flexible coating, which does not visibly enhance the color of the paper fibre, upon the impregnated surface, the fibre of the other zone and of its purposely untreated surface retaining an ainity for lacquer comprising shellac, and a coating of' lacquer applied to the surface of said untreated zone to form a transparent, glossy, washable, dry, flexible coating which permanently enhances the lustre of the paper fibre strands.

3. A flexible slip cover material composed of interwoven strands of twisted paper fibre, said bres being normally innocuous to lacquer, an inexpensive waterproofing agent comprising a water soluble aluminum salt and wax applied to one side only of said fabric and penetrating the paper fibre, said agent forming a dry moisturerepellent coating which does not adversely affect the appearance of the fibre strands or the flexibility of the material, the depth of penetration of said agent being insufficient to impair the lacquer innocuous qualities of the opposite surface of the fabric, and a coating of lacquer comprising shellac applied to the opposite uncoated surface of said fabric.

4. A slip cover material comprising colored strands of lacquer receptive and lacquer innocuous twisted paper fibre interwoven to form a cheap flexible fabric base, a coating of lacquer comprising shellac applied to one side of said base to produce a transparent glossy washable dry surface which enhances the coloring of the fibres and prevents fading thereof, and a coating of a water soluble aluminum salt and wax applied to the opposite side of said base in spaced relation to said lacquer coating to prevent said coat: ing from deleteriously affecting the lacquer.

5. A slip cover material comprising variously colored strands of lacquerlreceptive and lacquer innocuous twisted paper fibre interwoven to form a cheap flexible fabric base, said base lbeing treated on one side only with an agent containing a water soluble aluminum salt and wax forming a moisture-repellent dry coating which does not enhance the eye-appearance of the paper fibres or impair their flexibility but which effectively impairs their lacquer-receptive-innocuous qualities, the depth of penetration of the paper fibres by said waterproofing agent being purposely arrested in spaced relation to the opposite untreated surface of the fabricbase so that the fibres upon said untreated surface retain their lacquer-receptive-innocuous qualities, and a coating of shellac applied to said untreated surface to produce a transparent glossy washable dry flexible surface which permanently enhances the color of the paper fibre strands.

6. A flexible textile material comprising interwoven strands of twisted paper having unimpregnated bres at the interior of said strands, a moisture-repellent, dry, transparent coating of an agent comprising a water soluble aluminum salt and wax on one side of the material, said coating being flexible with the material, and a moisturerepellent, dry, transparent, glossy, washable coating comprising shellac on the other side of the material which is also flexible with the material and which enhances and permanently preserves the lustre of the so-coated fibres.

7. A textile material comprising colored paper twisted into strands of different colors, said strands being interwoven to form a flexible fabric having unimpregnated fibres at the interior of said strands, a moisture-repellent, dry, transparent coating of an agent comprising a water soluble aluminum salt and wax on one side of the material, said coating being flexible with the fabric, and a moisture-repellent, dry, transparent, glossy, washable coating comprising shellac on the other side of the material, said coating being also flexible with the fabric and enhancing the lustre and permanently preserving the color of the so-coated fibres.

JOHN J. PETROSKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 143,122 Clark Sept, 23, 1873 2,075,836 Spafford Aug. 6, 1937 2,137,969 Thomas a Nov. 22, 1938 2,163,228 Jorling June 20, 1939 

